We close the coverage of our fifth custom contest, which had “America” as a theme, with the Radical class, which allows any and all modifications to a custom, unlimited cutting, blending of two castings, swapping parts from other cars,fabrication, anything. This class really brings to the front the creativity and resources of the customizer, but of course, always sticking to the theme of the contest. This time, Radical was quite contested, with great quality jobs all around.

As stated in our rulebook, every class was judged under the principle that the participating customs had to stick to the contest’s theme. Having said that, we leave you with the entries for this class and their customizers. Down bellow you’ll find the winners of the first three places, with a small photoshoot of each, as well as commentary from our judges regarding why they won.

Judges comment: Ahmed took Radical’s third place with this extremely well achieved rat rod based on a ’32 Ford –the base casting is a Way 2 Fast- that respects the extremely thin line that separates the authentic rat rods that originated when the term was coined in the late 90s, from the quite questionable “shock rods” –the best term we know to refer to them- that make use of extreme modifications and almost caricature-like proportions to cause a shock when you see them –hence the term. Ahmed’s custom is still recognizable as a ’32 Ford, with the only extreme modification being the set of oversized wheels and tires, as is the norm in this trend. A Bone Shaker interior is complemented with several scratch-made parts, which we can also find in the engine, in the form of the three-carb setup over the blower, complete with linkage. And we also have the details that make it perfectly clear that Ahmed is a true conoisseur of the hot rodding culture: when was the last time you saw the classic Buick finned drum brakes in a 1:64 custom? Yeah, neither had we.

Judges comment: Cano took home second place with ‘Fast Groceries’, his Nova Gasser, an old favorite of oursthat, even with some years on its back, is still a pretty competitive custom because its execution is just about perfect, from the nose-high stance to the impossibly correct rolling stock, and let’s not forget the decals, that pay hommage to the drag racing culture of the 60s.

But it is precisely in the decals where the Nova’s weak spot is, which were “eaten” here and there by the final clear coat, relegating this jaw-dropping custom to an almost unfair second place.

Judges comment: Victor took home Radical with a great representation of a “rock crawler” Jeep – those 4x4s that climb mountains and go over 4-foot-tall rocks like they were mere speed bumps- starting with an excelent Matchbox casting that is already a crawler by nature -the missing fenders, rollcage structure- to which he made justice by cutting away the plasticky parts of the base that tried to look like a chassis, replacing them with a fully functional, a very correct and crazily-detailed suspension, differentials, a driveshaft, and other accessories like a stack muffler and completed it with some accessories and details here and there… And all of this without even a scratch to the original paint. If this thing sported a more correct set of wheels, like the ones used in real rock crawlers -those Americans would bend like tin foil with the first rock- it would have been a basically perfect custom, but as it sits, it was good enough to nab the win.

Our whole-hearted thanks to the participants on our 5th contest, the most packed we’ve ever had, our judges really had their work cut out for them. We’ll se you all in the next contest, in just a few days!